Prying Gently

Posted on Mon 17th Oct, 2016 @ 5:46am by Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Lieutenant Commander Lanis Dhuro MD

1,274 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Cloak & Dagger
Location: Sickbay/Base Infirmary
Timeline: MD-1, after the Department Heads' meeting
Tags: paulgraves

Paul entered the base infirmary after the department heads' meeting. He introduced himself to the ensign on duty and asked for directions to where Dr. Addams was.

The ensign looked uncertain. "Ah, sir, she's indisposed at the moment--"

"Yes, I know that," Paul said. "I was present when it happened. I just want to check on her, and then I'll leave her to recover."

He said it in the same way a medical doctor would, and, after all, he was the Chief Counselor. He had mostly unlimited access to anywhere he might want to go on Vanguard.

"She's in Exam Room 1, Doctor."

Paul nodded and thanked the ensign and then headed deeper into the infirmary. He had finally reached the main work area when an older Bajoran officer pinned him with a sharp look. "Ah, there you are. You're Graves, aren't you?"

"Er, yes," Paul replied, wondering how the man was so certain. Perhaps he'd already read the staff roster and personnel files? "And you are?"

"Dr. Dhuro. I figured we'd be seeing the Counselor shortly." He nodded toward a privacy-shielded room. "She's in there. Don't take too long, or Doctor t'Shen will chase you out. She's quite the stickler for procedure, and she's chased out two other people, already."

"Good to know," Paul said. "Thank you."

"Just make sure Addams is all right. She's not typically the kind to swoon." A distinct wave of certainty in his assessment and worry about Addams brushed Paul's awareness. It never ceased to amaze him how people who were not empaths could still accurately perceive these things about other people, simply by words and nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions. Until first meeting non-Betazoids, Paul had considered those to be imprecise methods. His father didn't count; Dad had always seemed able to read him like a book.

Paul nodded. "I got that impression of her, too." He walked over to the examination room and knocked. "Dr. Addams, it's Paul Graves. May I come in?"

"Certainement, Doctor Graves," came the contralto voice of the physician. She was standing beside the bio bed, her arms folded across her thin chest. She was tapping the long fingers of her right hand against her left elbow, and a second, extra hand was doing the same. The second hand was apparently masculine, and truncated at the wrist.

The sight of the third hand jarred Paul out of thinking that Chlamydia Addams had the loveliest cranium he had ever seen. His eyebrows shot up as high as Mt. Seleya. "That must be awfully ah, handy for doing surgery." Then he winced at his own pun before continuing. "How are you feeling?"

"Thing is often a great help," Addams agreed, "but not in surgery... he isn't certified." She smiled wryly, then went on, "as for myself, I am recovered from my unseemly bout of emotion. In..." she glanced at the chronometer on the monitoring panel, then went on, "three minutes, my hour of mandated observation will expire, and I will return to duty."

Addams' dark eyes focused on the counselor. "But enough about me. How may I assist you, Doctor?"

"Hardly unseemly," Paul said. "You were startled." He hesitated, to ensure that the privacy shield was holding, and continued. "I don't mean to pry, but you had a lot of questions. If there is any way I can help you find answers, I would like to."

Addams raised her hand to her brow and rubbed above her eyebrow, tiredly. Thing stayed on her elbow. "I have been examined quite thoroughly by trained telepaths. I do not know where Archimedes is now, and I truly have no recollection of the three months after the ship departed Starbase 50."

Paul's eyes widened. "Three months?" He thought for a moment. "I'm not terribly much of a telepath unless I'm around people I know very well or unless someone projects strong emotions, as you did during the meeting. I will...not plan to go into your mind like someone rooting through an attic. I understand why Starfleet probably felt they had to. They would have wanted to rescue Archimedes. But I think we have more of a luxury of time, now, as the immediate crisis has passed. There have been no answers for this long; it can wait a little longer. If you are comfortable with me doing what I can to help, I would like to research this and read the reports of what those other telepaths found before considering anything of that sort. And frankly, I think it best if we not pull the scab off until you are ready for it to come off. That may not be for quite some time."

"They left me," Addams said, smiling slightly. "Wherever they went, whatever they were doing... they left me behind. They were very careful to erase any knowledge I had which might lead anyone to them. Frankly, I am not interested in what they are doing." Anger peaked behind Addams' eyes, and then receded. "It is kind of you to offer your assistance. However..." she gestured to the monitor display. "My hour is up, and I will now be resuming my duties. Good afternoon, Counselor."

Well, that news was unexpected, Paul thought. He wondered how she knew. "Why would they leave just you behind?" he asked. "Is it not possible that you might have been their message in a bottle?"

"It is not," Addams stated flatly. Thing scurried up her arm to her shoulder, and arranged itself comfortably. "For me to be their message in a bottle, there would have to be a message in the bottle." She deactivated the privacy screen.

So she doesn't really know, Paul concluded, and I won't argue with her excellent logic without proof and without a good, long look into her mind, first--which cannot happen today.

"Point taken," Paul said and stood aside so Addams and Thing could precede him out of the room.

Thing...Paul froze. "Was Thing on Archimedes with you?"

"Thing and I have been companions since we were both very young," Addams answered, passing out into the corridor.

I'm going to need to talk to the Hand at some point, Paul decided. Now was not the time, though. Now, his plate was full. "I have to request to reschedule our meeting," he said. "Col. Drake has assigned me to the away team for the current mission, and I need to prepare. I'm not sure exactly how long we'll be gone. Are there any patients who it's vital that I staff with you and see before I leave?"

"None, of whom I am aware," Addams said. "But the Counseling staff does not report directly to me, so you should check with your yeoman before you leave." She seemed more relaxed out of the exam room and off the topic of Archimedes. "Bon Voyage, Doctor, and if you find fascinating new ways for people to die, take extensive notes, please?"

"I don't think my yeoman's arrived yet, but I'll check. Thank you for speaking with me, Dr. Addams. I'll look forward to talking with you in a few days, fascinating modes of death discovered, or not. Glad to meet you, Thing," Paul said and then made his way back to his temporary office.

Thing waved its middle and index finger in casual salute, and Addams turned away as well, heading for her own office.

OFF

Lt. Commander Chlamydia Addams, MD
Chief Medical Officer

Thing

Lt. Paul Graves, PsyD
Chief Counselor

Lt. Dhuro Lanis, MD (NPC)
Chief of Surgery

 

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